Never give up on your dreams

I will never forget the day I met Dianna Bowes.

I narrowly missed a chance for a face to face introduction to her at Jo Dibblee's "Frock Off" book signing event in Edmonton. Our mutual friend, Charmaine Hammond, had spoken so highly of Dianna over the past two years. I could hardly wait to meet the woman who had given birth to the dream of Fabulous@50. Inwardly, I harboured the wish that one day I would be a part of this wonderful community. 

That night as she slipped away before I had the chance to speak to her, the only thing I saw as we drove away from the book store was the back of her vehicle and her Fabulous@50 logo.    

Two months later when she appeared unannounced at an E Women Networking meeting in Victoria, I introduced myself, knowing exactly who she was when she told me her name. She mentioned that she was there set up Fabulous@50 in other communities in western Canada.  

I wondered which high profile woman would sign up for the privilege to become the Regional Director for Victoria. Fabulous@50 was not even on my radar. I had been working on another creative project doing Shopping Tours and Secret Suppers with my daughter. I had also recently overcame cancer. I needed to be careful with my time and energy.   

Later I invited her to my condo where we drank healthy smoothies and shared our passions for making our big dreams come true. I felt deeply connected to her.

It's funny how life works sometimes.  

Curiosity then drove me to check out the Fabulous@50 website and for fun I filled out the form for becoming a licensee. A day later, I had a Skype date with Dianna.  Something was stirring inside me. My excitement was so huge, I stayed up late filling out even more forms despite the fact I had just undergone emergency surgery the week before to correct a bowel obstruction. 

I heard a voice inside my mind that repeated the words to me over and over again: "I am doing Fabulous@50 in Victoria! I am doing Fabulous@50 in Victoria!" I held the vision with perfect clarity.

So much took place over the course of the summer: two months later, I had another surgery, this time to correct a hernia.  My daughter found the love of her life and the man of her dreams.  Sarah went on to create a novel idea for a shoe accessory called Shoe Straponz and our paths took a brand new direction. Bedridden, the creative project the two of us had been working on together was slipping away from me. I no longer had the energy nor the enthusiasm for any of it.  And without energy and finances, Fabulous@50 seemed to also be slipping away from me. 

But I never gave up on my dreams. 

Everything I needed to become the Victoria's Fabulous@50 Director came together in the most amazing way. I'm proud to say that on November 3, I personally handed over the check and signed the papers with Dianna Bowes in Edmonton and the dreams of two women came together in perfect fusion that day.